EXCLUSIVE: Morgan Freeman will bring his regal presence to Oblivion, the Joseph Kosinski-directed film for Universal Pictures that stars Tom Cruise, Andrea Riseborough and Olga Kurylenko. Cruise plays the last man on a post-apocalyptic and nearly uninhabitable Earth, who stays behind to repair ships that hunt down and blast a virulent alien species. I haven’t yet been able to figure out what role Freeman will play, but I’m told it’s a critical part.

Michael Arndt is currently rewriting a script that had earlier drafts by William Monahan and Karl Gajdusek. Peter Chernin and Dylan Clark are producing through Chernin Entertainment along with Barry Levine and Kosinski. Jesse Berger and Dave Morrison are executive producers. Freeman’s last starring role in a Universal film was Wanted, and before that he twice played God in Bruce Almighty and the spinoff Evan Almighty. He’s repped by CAA and attorney Jason Sloane.